Alstan Wolfe and the Panthers heroic efforts came up short against the Southern Lehigh Spartans on Homecoming night.
Saucon Valley opened the stadium gates and welcomed the Southern Lehigh Spartans to town as part of their 2017 Homecoming. It was a remarkably gorgeous night for all the festivities. Those in attendance, and the Service Electric TV2 viewing audience, were treated to an intensely entertaining contest. Both teams played extremely hard and slugged it out to the very end. When it was all over, the Spartans were able to throw the last punch. With eight seconds remaining, Southern Lehigh converted good on a 19-yard field goal to seal the victory.
Former Panther administrator Art Antonioni and his wife were honorary captains as a show of appreciation for donating the new end zone play clocks.
Saucon Valley opened the game on defense and forced the Spartans to a three-and-out punt. Five plays later, Panther quarterback Alstan Wolfe found Steven Rose in the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown. The drive covered 41 yards, but the PAT was no good. At the 8:17 mark in the first quarter, Saucon led 6-0.
After trading punts, Southern Lehigh forged a 55-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard TD plunge by Luke Strauss. The Spartans claimed the lead at 7-6 with just over a minute left to play in the first quarter.
Saucon Valley looked like the were going to answer, but turned the ball over on downs after a fourteen play drive. Starting at their own 23-yard line, the Spartans looked dangerous and marched back the other way. But after 11 Southern Lehigh offensive plays, Christian “Mongo” Alling got the ball back for the Panthers when he intercepted Southern Lehigh quarterback Logan Edmond’s pass in the end zone.
Mongo drags the Southern Lehigh defense for a Panther first down.
The Panthers rewarded Alling’s defensive efforts with a drive that concluded with Alstan Wolfe keeping on an option play to score a six yard TD. Saucon found success with their 2-point try when Wolfe went play-action, boot-pass from a full-house backfield set to find tight end Patrick Morrissey in the front corner of the end zone. The key play of the nine-play drive was a super-freaky fake punt by the Panthers Alstan Wolfe. Wolfe rolled right appearing intent on launching a rugby-style punt. But he decided to keep on truckin’ for a 50-yard run gain before he was brought down. Saucon Valley was able to take a 14-7 lead into the locker room.
Junior Patrick Morrissey makes the grab on the Panthers first two-point conversion.
On the opening drive of the second half, Saucon was forced to punt. Southern Lehigh drove 67 yards in 10 plays finishing the with a touchdown when Mike Sisselberger took another end zone plunge from two yards out. The Spartans’ PAT was good and knotted the score at fourteen with 6:46 remaining in the 3rd Quarter.
It was the Panthers turn as Zach Petiet returned the following kickoff out to his own 42-yard line. Wolfe shouldered the load on a three play drive that ended with a super-freaky 25-yard touchdown run. Wolfe rolled right on “waggle,” reversed field and picked up a monster block from “Big-Tim” Weaver which sprung him for the score. The play goes in the books as 25-yard touchdown run, but Wolfe certainly took the scenic route running much farther than that. The Panther extra-point kicking woes of the night continued with another PAT try that went awry. With just over five minutes left in the third quarter the Panthers were back on top, 20-14.
Southern Lehigh’s Mike Sisselberger and the other Spartans ran hard against the Panther defense.
Southern Lehigh came right back to reclaim the lead with a methodical 15-play, 67-yard scoring drive. The Spartan touchdown and PAT made the score 21-20 with 10:33 left to play.
Southern Lehigh retained possession after their score when they surprised the Panthers and recovered an onside-kick. The Spartans took over at midfield and logged eight plays that ended with a TD on a 3rd and goal from the four yard line. The Spartan “toss-pass” was good to Eli Price and so was the PAT. Southern Lehigh was up 28-20 with just over six minutes left in the game.
Alstan Wolfe led the Panthers to 28 points.
The Panthers went down swinging. Highlighted by a couple of Alstan Wolfe runs, Saucon answered with a seven play drive that ended with a touchdown when Wolfe and Rose hooked up again. This time it was on 2nd & 7 from the Spartan 32-yard line. Wolfe went play-action to his right and Rose raced across the field on a drag-route back the other way to Wolfe’s left. Rose made the grab, shook off his defender and celebrated the score in the end zone. The Panthers converted the 2-point try with Wolfe hitting Ryan Holub on an out-route just across the goal-line. With 2:46 remaining the score was all tied-up at 28.
Saucon Valley kicked off and the defense held the Spartans to a three-and-out punt. The Panthers took possession at their own 44-yard line but imploded. A Spartan sack followed by an errant shotgun snap forced Saucon Valley to punt the ball back to the Spartans from their own 10-yard line with a little under a minute remaining. Southern Lehigh took control at the Panther 30-yard line. Four plays later, with eight ticks of the clock left, Southern Lehigh connected on a 19-yard field goal to end all scoring. It was an action-packed 31-28 Spartan victory.
Southern Lehigh’s Alex Milios connects on the game-winning 19-yard field goal.
UP NEXT: Panther Nation welcomes the Northwestern Lehigh Tigers to town for a “Blue-Out, Mini-Thon” Friday night clash. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Good luck Panthers, the Source is with you!
